The Daily Grind: What’s the MMO with the biggest anti-fandom?

When an MMO gets big enough, you get its anti-fandom. This is not the same as people who don’t particularly like a game; some people are just not really into Ultima Online, for example, and that really only comes up if someone brings it up. But the anti-fandom would be the people who take time to specifically say how much they hate UO, who follow around news posts to add comments like “just so you know, UO sucks” whenever possible, who spend all of the energy of a fan but solely to constantly say, “Also, I don’t like this thing.”

This is definitely something that World of Warcraft has held onto for years, with people who proudly declare “I’ve never played that terrible game” or try to use the name itself as an invitation to look down on people who enjoy the title. But it’s hardly alone, as I’ve seen the same sort of anti-fandom behavior around Final Fantasy XIV, Guild Wars 2, and Star Citizen. So today, let’s talk about it. What’s the MMO with the biggest anti-fandom? Where do you feel you see the largest number of people dedicated to constantly talking about a game… specifically, to say that it’s bad?

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Shroud of the Avatar… easily! Sold 55,000 something pledges… then went persistent with nowhere near that number playing. “Don’t worry,” said the white knights, “People will come when the game officially launches…” (coveniently ignoring that persistence IS launch for gamers). Then the game launched and STILL no one showed up. And, as I sit here today, the average Steam users per month is around 100, while the lead dev (basically the only dev these days, who runs the whole show out of his home), says that Steam is 1/3 to 1/4 of their total number. So, you guys do the math on how many that is out of 55,000 plus. And STILL white knights will say the hate for Shroud is overblown. NO IT IS NOT. The game is hated/ignored by 99% of people who backed it…!!! The math is there for anyone who wants to do it.

I could go on for absolutely ages, pointing out their endless design mistakes. Part of it is just being “butt-hurt” myself – we were promised an amazing game, I believed the hype, and felt personally betrayed when it turned out to be a pile of crap. Part of it is the exclusive SW license EA has, so I’m sad about the opportunity cost – SWTOR got made instead of a good game, and whilst SWTOR remains I’ll never get a good SW MMO.

A lot of it is just disbelief that you could spend that much money trying to make a game and fail so spectacularly! I mean, you set out from day 1 to make an MMORPG and its not even massively multiplayer! How can you fail that badly?

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28 days ago

Reader

Steve Gustafson

I played WoW for a few months, briefly, during the vanilla, Burning Crusade, and Lich King periods. I had one max level character during all of these sessions.

Previously, my MMO was City of Heroes, the game I always went back to. WoW was my introduction to live voice chat, needed in progression raiding of the sort that required elaborate catherding and choreography. I learned about the MMO trinity that turns tanks and healers into prima donnas. I learned about gear repair costs and need or greed rolls. I learned about gear scores and UI mods that put everyone on the clock for their DPS, threat, and healing. That’s a 50 DKP minus!

I came to view these mechanics as the direct and obvious causes of a community that seemed much more hostile and quarrelsome than the one I was used to. It isn’t that I’m an antifan of WoW. I played Age of Conan for years after losing City, and it had some of the same issues, but I enjoyed the game world. But they still leave a bad taste in my mouth.

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29 days ago

Reader

Max Sand

WoW hate is on another level. MMO fans, people who hate MMOs, people who put thousands of hours into the game, people who currently PLAY the game, people who never touched it, console gamers, baby boomers who have never played any game at all……. I am amazed at the diversity of people who crap all over me for enjoying a game, even tho I don’t currently play it but the fact I did within the last 12 months, and with such a deep burning passionate hate, not just for the game but a disdain for me as a person that I dare enjoy it. Among gamers, Star Citizen might get the most hate but among the wider society, I think WoW’s vitriolic antifans are the winners of the Hater Award.

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30 days ago

Reader

Bryan Correll

Hmmmm. I’d say WoW still has the most haters, but that Star Citizen’s anfi-fans are more passionate in their hatred.

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30 days ago

Reader

sizer99

It used to be that just mentioning Star Citizen would guarantee you more hate per comment than any other MMO – and for good reason.

But even people who love to hate it seem kind of tired now. Yes it’s still a joke, yes it’s still milking money from gullible people, they’re still claiming Squadron 42 any time now, but it’s been doing that for almost a decade now, what’s really changed? It’s like finding out Abe Vigoda was still alive – what, he was? Though I apologize for comparing you to Star Citizen, Abe – RIP.

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30 days ago

Reader

Alex Willis

I have played WoW for all of 4 hours in total, and I don’t plan on playing any more. But its haters are honestly the most tiresome pedants and sadbois around. Not only is the hate unjustified — WoW is *THE* MMO for a reason, and it’s not because everybody is suffering from a shared delusion — but it is also wildly outdated. Seriously guys — find a new target.

Now, Star Citizen. THERE’S a championship game to hate. I’ve DEFINITELY played more SC than I have WoW, and I have backed it to the tune of several hundred dollars. And I also think the hate is much more justified there.

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30 days ago

Reader

Utakata

You know, it’s all about…

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30 days ago

Reader

squid

Not the biggest, of course, but I’ve been surprised by the dedication of some Legends of Aria anti-fans. There are some who post frequently on the forums, discord and subreddit about how much the game sucks, devs are stupid, etc., or post near-daily troll threads…and they’ve been doing it for nearly a year now.

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30 days ago

Reader

Mordyjuice

I just bought a new antivirus suite called Total AV, it keeps flagging your ad panels for some reason as being malicious.

Now we have different ads and the warning dropped, looks like it’s one game that’s flagging my AV called Twin Saga.

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30 days ago

Reader

Mordyjuice

Let me add Eternal Fury to that list now, you guys should be a bit more careful who you sell ad space to.